Are you looking to tip toe into fermented foods but not sure where to start?
Fermented foods are essential to introduce, as they provide probiotic bacteria in the best possible form. Supplements of probiotics settle in the upper parts of the digestive system and generally do not make it all the way down to the bowel, while fermented foods will carry probiotic bacteria all the way down to the end of the digestive system.
Fermentation predigests the food, making it easy for our digestive systems to handle, that is why fermented dairy products are easily digested by autistic children and other people with a damaged gut.
By dripping your yoghurt or kefir through a cheesecloth you can separate it into cottage cheese and whey. To do that, line a large bowl with two layers of cheesecloth, pour the yoghurt or kefir into it, tie the four corners of the cloth together and hang it above the bowl to drip. After dripping is complete pour the whey (the yellow liquid that drips out) from the bowl into a clean glass jar with a tight lid and keep it in the refrigerator to use as a starter for fermenting different foods, such as vegetables, fish, fruit, beans and grains.
To make a vegetable kvass:
Take some cabbage (white, red or any other variety), beetroot, garlic, cauliflower and carrot, slice them into nice mouth size pieces or shred them roughly, add some salt to taste and pack into a 1 litre glass jar. Add half a cup of whey (you will get this from about 400 grams of yoghurt). Add this water to the jar until it completely covers the vegetables (if the vegetables are not quite covered, just top it up with more drinking water). Cover tightly with the lid and leave to ferment at room temperature for a 2-5 days or until the lid it taught.
To make a fruit kvass:
In a 1 litre fermenting jar roughly chop fruit, whatever combination you like to fill about the bottom third of the jar. Feel free to mix up the combinations, apple and strawberry, pineapple and blueberry. Add half a cup of whey and then fill the rest with filtered water, cover tightly with a lid and leave to sit for 1-4 days depending on room temperature, or until the lid is taught.